How this technophobe copywriter finally tackled video marketing

FACT: I’m a total communication nerd, but I was never into visual communication.  I’m a writer, so graphic design, web design, editing, even putting an outfit together… anything a normal person would enjoy with their eyes, not my thing. In fact, there’s a funny story as to why I never quite mastered video before about 7 months ago.

The first time I tried to create a video for my business, it took a week to shoot it. By the time I was done, I was in tears and I didn’t even have a usable video.

I hated the way I looked, the way I sounded and the way I felt. Can you relate? Unfortunately, a whole lot of women (especially women, but some men too), struggle to create a video that they feel proud of.

While shooting and editing that first video, I remember thinking… why hadn’t I ever bothered to learn this before? The answer was probably that YouTube wasn’t even a thing when I was in school. To be honest, the internet was barely a thing. I learned to type in an MRIC chatroom and thought AOL IM was THE coolest when I was in high school.

When I took my first media class, I figured, I wasn’t going to pursue media, so why did I need this? So, I promptly skipped class the day we were supposed to learn editing and decided to get a tattoo instead. I never went back. Solid decision.

For two straight years, I struggled to make a video that I felt ok enough about to post online. Two years! (I told you, I’m a techno-phobe).

Besides spending a ridiculously long time trying to learn, I also spent an embarrassingly lot of money on tech items to try and make the process easier (most didn’t).

I’ve always enjoyed in person communication much better. I think that’s why I’ve always been a solid sales rep.

I even love public speaking. In fact, I taught communication and speech at a college and a University for almost 6 years.

But, as the internet has evolved, so have our channels of communication. Video has become an increasingly important tool in my marketing toolkit.

Video is the closest thing that most of us have to reaching hundreds, thousands or more people with rich communication.

When our customers can see us (our movements, our non-verbals) and hear us (hear our vocal inflection, the emotion in our voice), they’re much more likely to know, like, and trust us. Video is the closest thing to in real life communication that the internet has seen.

And, lucky for us, it’s become affordable enough and easy enough for the average one-woman-show (like myself) to actually use it as an effective marketing strategy.

Eventually, I realized that video marketing could be boiled down to just 3 steps; record, edit, and share.

That’s it. I just needed to master 3 skills. So do you. Here are some tips I have to help you conquer each step.

Record

Tip: Don’t skimp on the lighting.

I tried a ton of different lighting solutions when I first started. None of them worked well (I actually even used a very non-traditional lighting source for a few videos. I share that on my email list… but it’s too embarrassing to tell the entire internet… sorry :/)

I had heard that LED lights work well for video. They didn’t for me. They were never bright enough to light me and the entire background, plus I just didn’t look good in that light.

Finally, I found the Limo Studio Continuous Video Light. It. Works. Wonders. I love it. Not only is it a nice, powerful light (so I only need one), it also (somehow) makes me look not-half-bad. Bonus!

The light is covered in a soft box, which is really a must if you are at all worried about your appearance (like I am). It makes my skin look even and smooth, and doesn’t highlight bags under my eyes.

[If you want to grab the list of all of the tools I use, you can get the toolkit here – free (and find out what that not so traditional lighting source I used was… ugh)]

Edit

Tip: Use your audio as a guide.

When you record your video, you’ll notice there are two tracks. The first is your video track – that’s what you see. The second is your audio track – that’s what you hear.

For the longest time, I tried editing by paying attention to the video track. That was a mistake. It meant that I had to watch the entire video over and over again (because you can’t see it all at one glance, you can only see a still frame).

Finally, I realized that editing based on the audio track was the way to go. All you have to do is look at the soundwaves and you’ll be able to tell when you’re silent (therefore, where you need to cut), and when you’re speaking.

This was a HUGE help. Huge. This meant that I could edit video incredibly quickly and then just watch it once as a final check. This saved a lot of time.

Bonus tip: When you’re recording your video, instead of starting a new take every time you mess up, just leave a few seconds of silence. You’ll be able to see this easily on your audio track, allowing you to quickly edit out your mistakes!

Share

Tip: Look beyond Youtube.

One of the reasons I stayed away from video marketing for so long was because I thought I had to focus on building a Youtube following if I wanted to get any eyes on my video. I was so wrong!

Youtube is a great place to get traffic, don’t get me wrong. It’s a very large search engine and can attract many viewers.

It’s just not the only option. Videos can live on Facebook, your website or in a membership area (just to name a few examples).

Once I realized that I could use video to connect with people in many different places, my videos became a lot more valuable. I could get lots of use out of one video, and I didn’t have to wait until I grew an enormous Youtube following just to get some traffic.

What was really surprising to me is that once I found my flow, it didn’t actually take me too long to start seeing results from my videos. I didn’t need to practice editing for a long time, or wait to build a large following. I was able to quickly produce and efficiently share video very soon after I got it all together.

And, that’s what I want you to take from this article. This is doable. In fact, I’d argue that you don’t have to spend any more than 15 minutes per day on video (and you can even post once or twice a week on that time budget)!

Conquer one step at a time (record, edit and share), and pretty soon, you’ll be a video marketing pro!

The first step to master is recording. Want my free 15 minute video marketing toolkit? It’ll help you record quality videos in just minutes (I usually record in under 5 minutes). The tools work seamlessly together and make creating video a breeze. Get it here. It’s free!