5 Tips for (Finally) Creating Your First Video

It’s no secret that video is powerful for your business; but if you’re anything like me, it’s taken you some time to finally get to the point of creating your first video.

Here are 5 tips for (finally!) creating your first video.

1. Get comfortable.

One of the most common concerns about creating video is being comfortable in front of the camera. If you’re like most people, being videotaped seems to introduce stomach butterflies and shaky hands.

So, it’s time to get comfortable.

Practice with a few takes before creating your final cut. Worse comes to worse, you can edit a few takes together to have the perfect video! Plus, the more videos you create, the easier it will be!

2. Get the (minimal) equipment.

These days, it doesn’t take much to create a professional video. In fact, most of us have the basic tools we need to create great video already. Between a smartphone and your computer (with web cam), you’ve already got the basic necessities.

A few more items you might consider?

• Good lighting: This can be natural lighting (outdoors) with little or no shadows and no harsh sun, or a well-lit room indoors. You can also purchase additional lighting, as well.
• Great sound: Sound quality is another must-have when it comes to video. While smart phones and computers have come far by way of sound, you may want to purchase an additional, inexpensive microphone to limit any background noise or echoing.
• Shake-free video: There’s nothing worse than watching a shaky video. It may leave some of your viewers feeling queasy, and others just plain frustrated. If you’re using the camera on your computer, you’re good to go. However, if you’re using a camera or smart phone, invest in a simple stand or tripod.

3. Go for it!

It’s time to pull the trigger. You’ve got everything you need know to create a great video, so it’s time to stop stalling and go for it!

Remind yourself that your first few videos may not be perfect, but that’s ok. It’s all part of the learning process, and you need to go through the motions to learn with video.

4. A little editing goes a long way.

We’re not looking for your video to win major awards or anything here. You’ve created a simple video meant to market your business in some way.

There are plenty of free options for video editing or you can also use something that comes with your computer (such as iMovie). These will be more than enough for what you need.

Most of these options are pretty straight forward and easy to use, but you can always access plenty of how-to videos on YouTube.

5. Publish it the right way.

Congratulations! You created your first video!

But, sorry, you’re not quite done yet. You spent the time on the creative process, so use your video for all you can in your marketing efforts. Here are some starting tips for where to publish and how to optimize your videos.

As far as posting, here are some ideas to consider:

• YouTube
• Social media: publish directly to Facebook, publish a snippet to Instagram, publish a link to Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google +
• Write a post on your blog and include a link to the YouTube video
• Send out an email newsletter including a link to the blogpost you wrote

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Where will you begin? Tell us what your first video idea is going to be!